About

Deep Signal - The Illustrated Anthology

$17,132

pledged of $15,600 goal

355

backers

The New Metal Art Plate! As promised!

At the last minute, we had to replace the first metal art-plate. I reached out to Mr. Donato Giancola. He is a widely-respected artist with clients from Magic: The Gathering to other Fortune 500 companies.

In order to include his artwork in the book, I had to seek a new story to match the art! We found none other than the amazing, Mercurio D Rivera. Seek out his stories!

As always. Quality above all. I cannot let Deep Signal be less than the amazing book it is meant to become!

Special Mid-Campaign Offer!

Special Announcement! We are lucky to have Indigo Night as our friend. They are printing a limited edition set of Michael Kaluta's brilliant art that he created for Deep Signal. This 20" x 30" print will arrive ready to hang on beautifully printed and laminated art-quality mounted board.. Each image from the limited edition will be signed and numbered by the artist, Michae Kaluta.

The book features several prominent creators that have won major industry awards such as the Hugo, Nebula, Acer, BFSA, the Phillip Levine Poetry Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Award, Will Eisner Award, and Spectrum Art awards. Really, too many to list! The quality of the work within the pages of Deep Signal is assured as each story has been carefully curated and brought together in the most powerful collaboration possible. Much of the book has been completed and is awaiting your support to go to print and arrive at your door before Christmas.

The beautiful scarf features Michael Wm. Kaluta's art

Different pledge rewards include this beautiful fully-printed Deep Signal tubular scarf. It can be worn in 16 or more different ways! Look chic! Pull off a heist! Dress up like a fashionable pirate or a ninja! Everyone who has tried this scarf has really loved it. The Deep Signal scarf also makes a truly lovely gift!

Above: Art by Pat Redding Scanlon for the story, 'No Titans But Our Own', written by Monica Barraclough (Both Pat and Monica collaborated on two stories in Deep Signal as well as having large roles in editing the book!)

EARLY BACKERS OF DEEP SIGNAL GET A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU!

EARLY BACKERS will receive a Deep Discount for their anthology softcover plus an additional broadsheet art-print featuring the cover art by Michael Kaluta, the poem by Andrea Jurjević, and the beautiful Deep Signal scarf along with all the other fantastic rewards on the tier you pledge for! THANK YOU!

Subscribe to the email list and receive surveys about stretch-goals for Deep Signal. Have a say in what happens to Deep Signal!

"Let's get it straight. Early backers get a lot of loot!" ~ Pat Redding Scanlon, Deep Signal Artist, and Editorial Speculative Vixen

Deep Signal is an illustrated anthology featuring premier speculative stories for lovers of words and pictures. Your imagination will be stirred as these masters of storytelling embark with you on the journey through their worlds. Stories of wonder, horror, and mystery await... every story is startling in its own way. As part of the Deep Signal community, you will be able to engage with the project and help form the stretch-goals as we progress through the month. Want more stories? Is there a special art-print or merchandise item that you think would make a fine addition to the collector's edition? Want to get involved with creating more Deep Signal Podcasts? Pledge and take the survey!

In order to bring this book to life, we need to support the artists and writers that are creating these fantastic stories. Countless hours have gone into Deep Signal and there will be countless more upon completion of the campaign. There are several pledge levels for you to chose from to help us reach our goal of completing the book. Chose from a simple 'thank you' to becoming a high-level supporter and actually end up in the book as a character in one of Ken Liu's stories!

Deep Signal is honored to have commissioned and secured work from major talents such as Michael Wm. Kaluta, who created the stunning Deep Signalcover based on the keywords 'cosmos storytelling' and the name of the book. Andrea Jurjević, the winner of the Phillip Levine 2015 Award, then created the poem 'The Book of Dreams' inspired by Michael's artwork. Major award winner Ken Liu (The Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Dandelion Dynasty series, The Paper Menagerie and other Stories) offered Deep Signal a new story he had written as part of an exhibition for the Shanghai Zendai Himalayas Museum and a new piece he inspired by Stephen Hickman's art. Aliette de Bodard (Hugo finalist with herOn a Red Staton Drifting, The Tea Master and the Detective, BFSA winner with The House of Shattered Wings) created an evocative of intertwined lives with the esteemed Magic the Gathering artist and comics-industry painter Christopher Moeller (Spectrum Art winner and Magic the Gathering legend, JLA and Wonder Woman graphic novels) has begun to transform into beautiful oil paintings for Deep Signal. Elaine 'Starstruck' Lee and Pat Redding Scanlon (the infamous erstwhile editor of countless Conan comics) have created a fantastic tale of a wheel-clad heroine- in a maker's survival in the near-future. A timeless story by acclaimed Uzbek-poet-in-exile, former BBC correspondent, writer Hamid Ismailov (The Dead Lake, The Underground) with the astounding oil-paintings by Dutch artist Ronald Kleijer is going to haunt you.Professor Phil Trumbo, the Daytime Emmy award-winning art director from Pee Wee's Playhouse, and known to anthology enthusiasts from his work in Heavy Metal Magazine will bring you to wonder about the meaning of sentience and emotions in a tale with Pokemon/Iron Kingdoms game editor, Michael G. Ryan. Jason Murphy (prose-writer and co-host of the infamous Modern Rogue podcast and National Geographic's: Hacking the System) with Mikus Duncis, will shock you with their deep-space story of relationship problems and alien horrors. Tom Crosshill, famed Writer of the Future winner, Nebula nominee, author of Cat King of Havana, The Cattle Express, and voted European Science Fiction Society Award for Best Author,will enlighten you with his tale of the near-future set in the dark Baltics via the splendorous vision of vector-artist John Harman. A story of future-past gluttony is presented by Bryan Talbot(A Tale of One Bad Rat and The Adventures of Luther Arkwright) and Monica Barraclough, the ascending short-story writer and Deep Signal editor. Then Dr. Matthew Griggs tells a campfire tale brought to life by Sam Inabinet, Cezars Torres, and Brian Fisher bring a story of political turmoil among the animals. Eric Olive, Deep Signal Editor, weaves a comic narrative of science, black magic, drugs, and rock and roll. Mark J. Brady and Toby Wyant concocted a space opera murder-mystery. Eric Herenguel (Kong Crew) gave Deep Signal a super cool retro-future dino-powered raygun pin-up. Joel Mowdy and Kelly Zimmerman will drive you insane in their story. Jamie Martindale and Lee Moyer will make you reconsider our planet's environmental plight. Gabriela Lee has won our hearts and the Deep Signal Flash Fiction Contest with her story to accompany a painting by Eric Olive. Lastly, the artist Michael J. Smith and author Russell Wright will take us to London where some very special visitors have arrived over Westminister Abbey and Big Ben.

A close-up of one the illustrations painted by Eric Olive to accompany Ken Liu's story 'Shanghai in 48 Hours'; want to be immortalized in a story? Ten backers can be painted into this incredible utopian tale!

Pledge to put yourself into the future Shanghai!

There are a variety of stories and styles in Deep Signal. From surreal horrors, psychological mysteries, to space-faring adventures. There is even a travel guide to the future. What binds these tales together is the adherence to quality and depth of storytelling that people desire. The impossible is possible. Every story is curated to truly bring forth emotion and wonder. With so many award-winning writers and artists dedicated to Deep Signal, you can be assured they will lead you astray into the far realms of their imaginations.

The Deep Signal Podcast Series

A special gift for Deep Signal supporters... Early backers can receive this broadsheet fine-art as a print and everyone receives the MP3 recording of Andrea reading her poem 'The Book of Dreams'!

Listen to the poem below! (music by Eric Olive)

What is Speculative Fiction?

When I first heard the label ‘Speculative Fiction’ I didn’t get it. People were reading either Fantasy, or Science Fiction, or Historical stories. It didn’t click with me immediately that there is a very fuzzy line between ‘fiction’ and these sub-genres. Speculative fiction questions reality. What if? There might be elements of supernatural, or science fiction, or even fantasy within them. Perhaps a story told by someone is overcome with paranoid hallucinations falls into this realm. Visions of the future. Life, itself, is speculative reality, as far as I am concerned. The impossible is possible. Prove me wrong.

Why Deep Signal?

The first comic I recall reading was DC's House of Secrets (number 154) featuring a beautiful cover showing a young boy riding a gigantic white bird flying over a beautifully drawn city. The cover was just as compelling as the weird and wonderful stories within that book. It is the first time I remember paying attention to the signature artist on the drawing. Who was it? Michael Wm. Kaluta. I never forgot the name, the style of art. I started paying a lot of attention to the artists and writer teams within the books. During High School, I reached out to a Savage Sword of Conan editor that had once replied to a fan letter I had written and asked for an 'internship'. This gracious editor agreed and I found myself creating a story and receiving serious critiques and career-advice from none other than Pat Redding Scanlon. Her work as an artist is equally great and you won't believe it, but there are TWO stories illustrated by her in Deep Signal! The impossible is possible! One story with Elaine Lee, and the other scribed by an amazing new writer Monica Barraclough who also wrote a lovely flash fiction story, 'Gluttony', to accompany Bryan Talbot's beautiful and mortifying illustration. Both Monica and Pat have been so helpful in assembling Deep Signal that they have become official editors in the book. Deep Signal is a team effort and all the better for it. Encountering an artist like Kaluta through books is one thing, but I was more than fortunate to work for Kaluta's former NYC roommate and fellow college alumn, Charles Vess over the years at Green Man Press. The impossible is possible! I 'met' Elaine Lee through the work she did with Charles in The Book of Ballads and Sagas, an anthology of illustrated Child Ballad's that are true artistic treasures. Helping produce books and other works for Charles Vess taught me about artistic integrity, adherence to vision, and the sheer joy of creation.

40 years later after seeing Kaluta's work on the cover of that comic book when I was a kid, I was able to ask him to create an illustration for the Deep Signal. The result is one of his greatest creations (my opinion, but judge for yourself!). Just look at it. It makes me giddy. The impossible is possible.

Deep Signal is a carefully curated collection of illustrated tales led by award-winning recognized writers and artists. There is a common aesthetic-- the pairing of the illustrations to the writing like wine to a meal. Each story is told with as dynamically as possible and the artwork brings out aspects of the story that will further affect you. It has taken me a lifetime of making friendships and developing professional acquaintances to create Deep Signal. Each story has another story behind it-- how each writer and artist are directly and indirectly connected to each other through me and this book. A long series of impossible possibilities led to the creation of this illustrated anthology. So, what is speculative fiction? The answer is: It’s Deep Signal.

The impossible is possible.

Eric Olive, Publisher

Risks and challenges

I have already commissioned and secured completed stories and art from most of the award-winning auteurs in Deep Signal. At the time of the campaign's start, approximately 40 percent of the book has been finished, another 30 percent is in-process, and the remainder will begin upon conclusion of the campaign. I will personally visit the printers for a press-check to maintain the absolute best quality-control for the book and other items included in the campaign.

The book will be printed and shipped to the fulfillment headquarters in North America and, Asia, and Europe by November 2018. Just in time for Christmas! If you are outside of those regions you can also expect the order to arrive around the same time.

There are quite a few collaborators in this book. Even with the best intentions, sometimes life gets in the way of meeting a deadline. If anyone falls off from the book I will find someone equally worthy and talented to replace them. The Deep Signal community will be notified immediately.

Specifically, the stories by Aliette de Bodard with Christopher Moeller is written and concept sketches completed (as seen in the video), Ken Liu with Eric Olive is completed except for the final painting which will feature some of our amazing supporters, Ken's story with Stephen Hickman is completed. Hamid Ismailov and Ronald Kliejer have completed their story, The Body; Ronald promises one more painting for the story! Elaine Lee and Pat Redding Scanlon have finished their amazing story, Juice. Tom Crosshill and John Harman's work is written and the art that is in progress is so beautiful that it makes your eyes weep, Jason Murphy and Mikus Duncis have a crazy space horror finished (minus lettering!), Monica Barrachlough has written her stories for Pat Redding Scanlon and Bryan Talbot and the artwork is done. Michael Ryan with Phil Trumbo have finished the words and have some cool spot illustrations prepared to complete the layout, Joel Mowdy with Kelly Zimmerman have finished the writing and concept sketches are underway by Mr. Zimmerman. Toby Wyant and Mark J Brady have finished their space opera murder mystery. The remaining stories are in progress and will be worked on over the summer of 2018 once campaigning is completed. There are no expected delays from the creative talented professionals that have contributed to Deep Signal!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 3 or more
About US$ 3

Thank you from Deep Signal!

You aren't getting any books, art, prints, scarves, or anything but our thanks AND this beautiful sonic rendition of Andrea Jurjević's poem 'The Book of Dreams' read by the poet herself with a soundtrack by Eric Olive. The download will give you a .mp3 audio file for your enjoyment.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $25 or more
About $25

Deep Signal Anthology Limited Early Bird

The first 200 supporters of this reward will receive a special lower-priced softcover edition of Deep Signal with a beautiful scarf featuring the cover art by Michael Wm. Kaluta and the poetic broadsheet art print.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $50 or more
About $50

Deluxe Deep Signal Collector's Edition

The deluxe softcover book will arrive housed in a beautiful hardcover slip-case emblazoned with a silver-foil and matte black Deep Signal logo; resting within the front-inside cover, a set of postcards featuring Deep Signal art is safely tucked away. This also includes the beautiful Deep Signal scarf, suitable for all your adventure and fashion needs!

You'll also receive the 'Book of Dreams' poem in a finely printed broadsheet by the award-winning poet Andrea Jurjević and the cover art by the legendary Michael Wm. Kaluta.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $150 or more
About $150

INFINITY. Deep Signal Super Supporter

You'll get the Deluxe Edition, all the bells and whistles, and something else very special.
Want to be remembered forever as a character in a great science fiction story? You'll be painted into Ken Liu's story, 'Shanghai in 48 Hours, a Weekend Itinerary for International Visitors by Roaming Planets Guides, 2116' by artist Eric Olive (examples are in the description). You'll be visiting a utopian future market in the city of Shanghai and interacting with other Deep Signal supporters from this unique limited pledge.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $160 or more
About $160

Deluxe Set with Limited Edition Print

Pledge $120 or more
'LISTENING' Kaluta Limited Edition
Special Limited Edition A large and beautiful print, signed and numbered by Michael Kaluta. Laminated and mounted. Ready to hang! Only 50 will be printed! A Kickstarter Exclusive!